Review: “This is Me Eating My____" with Et Alia Theater Company
Max Berry, Contributing Critic
It truly is a crazy time for theatre. With all of the theatre’s closed and no one sure of when they will reopen again, artists have found themselves asking “What can I do? How can I keep making art?” Well, for Et Alia Theater Company the answer to that question was the performance series titled “This is Me Eating ____” . In this series, they asked artists to film a piece simply filling in the blank. A beautifully open canvas that yields beautiful results. Artists are encouraged to tell their stories about their relationship to their body and eating in this inventive new piece (collection?) Now invigorated with a new drive to create and possibilities beyond simply a stage and audience, the performers in “This is Me Eating ___” showcase their hearts in souls in a way that could only be done with the yearning of the stage lights off.
The pieces made are pre-recorded and put up online on Vimeo under the “This is Me Eating ___” series. Already we have a way of experiencing theatre that is different than the normal theater setting. The audience member chooses the order. The audience member chooses how they want to experience the piece. Do they want to start with some of the lighter pieces or start with the heavier ones and end on a light note? It’s up to them. This experience on its own was incredibly satisfying and when you bring in the powerful nature of the pieces it becomes all the more exciting. The pieces deal with topics from eating disorders to self-image to the loneliness of quarantine. Each artist brings their own personal touch to text, style, and performance. Some use dance, while others opt for a more literal monologue approach.
Though, each piece feels deeply personal and like we are peeking into a part of that person’s life. This is assisted by the incredibly intimate act of viewing someone in their home. The actors no longer have the curtains and lights to hide behind. They are all there for everyone to see, in their place of rest, of safety. I often felt like I was intruding on a moment I had no business being a part of. Other times I felt invited in by people who were looking for any connection within this isolation.
Some stand-out pieces include “This is Me Eating My Eating Disorder” by Co-Artistic director of Et Alia Theater Company, Giorgia Valenti, an over twelve-minute-long piece chronicling the struggles of her eating disorder and how quarantine has been affecting that. Valenti utilizes powerful monologue played over dance and her eating a meal at home. This piece is raw and honest and sets the tone for the pieces to follow.
Another piece that is equal parts charming and heartbreaking is “This is Me Eating Alone Thinking About Eating Together” by Deniz Bulat. Following Bulat as she prepares a meal alone (as we have all had to do a lot more lately) she talks about how important togetherness is to her when it comes to food and the difficulties that come with eating alone. Bulat performs the spoken text with a light charm that combined with the sad yet hopeful nature of the piece creates something truly beautiful. These are just a few of the many incredibly unique pieces of art that make up “This is Me Eating”. Others like “This is Me Eating My Vitman C by Clara Wiest and “This Is Me Eating My Words” by Kendall DuPre were also quite powerful.
Et Alia is truly making the best out of a bad situation and uniting artists across the world in a project that is both intimate and moving. It both utilizes the aspects of theatre that we all know and love while simultaneously embracing this new online medium and exploring all of its capabilities. It is truly inspiring to see so many artists creating such personal work in these trying times and I hope to see more of it.
“This Is Me Eating My ___” is a project created by the Et Alia Theater Company and Co-Artistic Director, Giorgia Valenti. It features pieces by Giorgia Valenti, Ana Moioli (Co-Artistic Director of Et Alia), Maria Muller, Ana Carolina, Deniz Bulat, Bianca Waecther, Luisa Galatti, Thais Fernandes, Lucas Vasconcelos, Bella Tortato, Clara Wiest, and Kendall DuPre.
You can find the whole collection here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7170354